Sauron and Voldemort
Well, I did some thinking and you have to admit there are some similarities.

- Both villains are coined "The Dark Lord"
- Both villains perfer their names to not be spoken
- Both villains were great dominators, until their downfall
- Both villains turned into a bodiless "evil spirit" form after their defeat
- Both villains caused the protagonist to have visions of them upon their return
- Both villains have an underling "Wormtongue" and "Wormtail"

Well, you gotta admit this can't just be coincidence. I am curious though if anyone else has pointed this out or if Rowling has mentioned influences for the character.

There are similarities in pretty much any fantasy there is. For example, in how many fantasy settings have you seen dwarves, orcs, goblins, etc?

If you want to see a real LOTR ripoff, try Eragon. It's a piece of shit with every aspect of it being copied from LOTR or elsewhere with zero amount of originality whatsoever. It wouldn't have even gotten on the market had its author's parents not owned a publishing company of their own (and marketed it like hell).

I read a good review of how bad it is this summer, but I've lost the link. :/

EDIT: And I personally think HP did a really good job on being original; I don't think I've ever seen such a detailed setting based on magic existing in real life before, and if you really think about it, there's no other books like it. Sure it borrows a few elements like all fantasies do, but it's much more original than the most. Calling it a ripoff is just bullshit.

"And yet be reminded by the Gods that though cooperation is a friendly pursuit, friendly fire is righteous in its purging of the vile and corrupt. Let ye not be deserving of its wrath for the hoarding of power-ups."

On an unrelated note, Finzy, what have you been smoking when you read Eragon? Seriously, I thought it was a great book, just like its sequel (Eldest).

That review I read, printed on several A4s

I haven't read the book but my cousin has and I've watched the movie. Add in the review and it tells me that I should never touch it. Mind you, it was a really lenghty review (reading it took about an hour), and it really detailed pretty much everything there was to it.

I guess the law of good opinions still applies though so I shouldn't call it bullshit without actually reading it, so you have my apologies on that one

Apologies accepted Just don't judge the book by the movie... I haven't watched the movie myself but I know people who have watched the movie as well as read the book, and they said the movie is terrible compared to the book...

edit: Also, I wouldn't generally trust a review that takes an hour to read. Smells to much like someone who hates the book for whatever reason and will go to great length to try to get other people to agree with him. Good reviews take the good and bad side of things to get to a well-balanced judgement.

"And yet be reminded by the Gods that though cooperation is a friendly pursuit, friendly fire is righteous in its purging of the vile and corrupt. Let ye not be deserving of its wrath for the hoarding of power-ups."

There are similarities in pretty much any fantasy there is. For example, in how many fantasy settings have you seen dwarves, orcs, goblins, etc?

With the exception of Orcs, Tolkien did not make up those. He did make up the villain, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finzy

If you want to see a real LOTR ripoff, try Eragon. It's a piece of shit with every aspect of it being copied from LOTR or elsewhere with zero amount of originality whatsoever. It wouldn't have even gotten on the market had its author's parents not owned a publishing company of their own (and marketed it like hell).

I read a good review of how bad it is this summer, but I've lost the link. :/

So why would I try it, now?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finzy

EDIT: And I personally think HP did a really good job on being original; I don't think I've ever seen such a detailed setting based on magic existing in real life before, and if you really think about it, there's no other books like it. Sure it borrows a few elements like all fantasies do, but it's much more original than the most. Calling it a ripoff is just bullshit.

I won't deny the Harry Potter series is very intricate and brilliantly woven. And I'm not calling the books a rip-off (though the thread title does appear that way, my bad), just the main bad guy. What I want to know is how you mess up an awesome character like Sauron...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finzy

A name common for most fantasy villains there are.

Yes, but guess who started it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finzy

Most villains want to be adressed with a special name or title.

Perhaps, but it still seems a little too close.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finzy

As they usually are.

Do most villains near conquer the free world, then be defeated and turn into a bodiless evil spirit form so that they later try again? And if so, there are even more Sauron rip-offs than I thought.

Do most villains near conquer the free world, then be defeated and turn into a bodiless evil spirit form so that they later try again? And if so, there are even more Sauron rip-offs than I thought.

Yes, at least in the fantasies I know, there's always some tyrant or an association ruling the entire world or at least a large portion of it It's very typical, I mean, what else is there to (try to) rule if not the entire world?

Yes, at least in the fantasies I know, there's always some tyrant or an association ruling the entire world or at least a large portion of it It's very typical, I mean, what else is there to (try to) rule if not the entire world?

Well, there are many other things. But ruling the world isn't all. What about the bodiless form until their return? I'd imagine that would get repetitive after the third or so time.

__________________"Is there any better Gerüstbaufirmenvorarbeiterschlüsselanhängerfarbenwasserlöslichkeitskontrollchemiker than discy? No!" -Shrinker
[22:30] Fiendian: Discy, Finzy and Louva shall merge into a superentity known as the Lickyfonz.
"Can we just move Discy's posts to the HOF automatically already? :P" -Jetty

I haven't watched the movie myself but I know people who have watched the movie as well as read the book, and they said the movie is terrible compared to the book...

Compared to the book, the movie is a cornucopia of shit. I have read both books and can't wait until the last one comes out (holy crap, I think it's this month). But I highly doubt I will watch another movie of this series (if there is one...). My brother saw the movie but didn't read the book, and he thought the movie was good, so it might have to do with everyone comparing the movie to the book. But still, in this case, the movie does not hold a candle to the book.

"And yet be reminded by the Gods that though cooperation is a friendly pursuit, friendly fire is righteous in its purging of the vile and corrupt. Let ye not be deserving of its wrath for the hoarding of power-ups."

Problem with fantasy is, it's usually a copy of LOTR world, so you have elfs, orcs, dwarfs, wizards,.....it's all good, but authors just don't use any imagination to add to that world. Why instead of orcs and elfs, they don't make up their own races in fantasy worlds, eihter books or games? It would be far more intresting then seing elfs and orcs for100000th time. It becomes boring.

Gimli, i'll try it once i get my hands on it. I hear it's verry good game.

But what i am saying here is, that 'fantasy' could be much difrent then it actually is. Leave out dwarfs, elfs, orcs,.....and introduce totaly new species, new overal visual style, try mix some of scifi elements in it, as finzy said, add difrent story.....there is so much potential in fantasy worlds, yet you only see same things over and over again. I mean i like fantasy but common, this is too much. Dungeon siege, The Elder Scroll series, baldur's gate, Icewind dale, WoW, .......they all have almost identical monsters, identical races, identical visual style (dispite WoW being cartoonish), verry similar enviroment....i'm getting bored of that. Seriously. Think of something new. If i like anything about Gothic series, is that it atleast has some unique monsters that you won't see in movies/games, so it's atleast something new. I really suggestion you people to go to site cgtalk.com and check out gallery, you will see some really unique and cool monsters, races, architecture...that could be used in fantasy games and would be waaaay cooler then anything out there today.

mech, i didn't just mention those two games....morrowind and oblivion are neither d&d and yet they have almost all the races and other things identical to those two games. Which picked up those from LOTR or similar. They all have same theme, that's the point.

Where'd you get that? Morrowind has a very different setting from that of Oblivion, and BG and IWD are completely different games. I wouldn't say that they have the same theme, unless you mean everything semi-medieval has the same theme. And even if they may have similar races, the style in each game is completely different, mark my words, heck, IWD's set on a barren, freezing glacier.

I don't mind Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale, I hear they're both great - and for D&D games, you can't change the races and such at all since you have to stick closely to the source material. The NWN2 expansion Mask of the Betrayer has got a pretty unique setting however, so you might want to check that out if you liked BG and IWD. Or the Hordes of the Underdark NWN1 expansion.

And D&D does have lots of original monsters and settings (such as the different planes and the Underdark), it's just that it needs some generic races since it's got so many settings, plus it's an old tabletop game, so what can you expect...

Also personally I don't mind semi-generic fantasy settings in games that much as long as it isn't overdone and they have something else to keep it interesting (like a wide variety of regions etc) and a good story. I wouldn't play a hack n' slash RPG on a generic fantasy setting though. The Witcher is a good example of how to make even traditional fantasy interesting - simply by being much more darker and more mature, it feels like something completely different and doesn't get boring at any moment.

__________________"Is there any better Gerüstbaufirmenvorarbeiterschlüsselanhängerfarbenwasserlöslichkeitskontrollchemiker than discy? No!" -Shrinker
[22:30] Fiendian: Discy, Finzy and Louva shall merge into a superentity known as the Lickyfonz.
"Can we just move Discy's posts to the HOF automatically already? :P" -Jetty